Act Two
by E. Marie
Summary: As Kagome and Inuyasha become more than friends, as the final battle with Naraku draws close, something goes horribly wrong, and Kagome is thrown three years in the past, to the moment her journey began. How will reliving the past change her future?
1. And the Curtain Falls

"Act Two" ~E. Marie E-mail: Emw712@aol.com  
  
January 15, 2004: This is my third attempt at Inuyasha fanfiction, and I refuse to let this story go unfinished! Unfortunately, this resolution comes with my solid decision to forgo continuing "The Other Wife" and "One Sick Puppy", but I feel beginning anew is for the best. "Act Two" is a quasi-continuation, beginning at no definite point, later in the series. Please, feel free to point out any blatant errors! Even fanfic authors are wrong!  
  
Chapter One: And the Curtain Falls...  
  
The water of the hot spring licked at Kagome's ankles, and she more than willingly gave into its allure. Glancing about, she tossed the towel she had been wearing toward the pile of her clothes and dove into the water in a single motion, a practice that she had perfected after years of traveling with a perverted monk. At this point in her travels, however, she had very little to worry about when it came to peeping toms. Even though Miroku had asked for Sango to be his wife after the battles with Naraku were over, their precarious engagement was made even more rocky by village women appearing out of the wood work, proclaiming that he had long ago asked them to bear his children and were now ready for the task. Needless to say, Miroku had experienced more ear-blistering lectures and beatings about the head than any mere human could have possibly endured. With a sigh, Kagome allowed herself to slip further below the surface of the water, her head pillowed against a nearby rock, thinking aloud, "Even though they seem to be arguing more than ever this days, I think they just want an excuse to make up...or make out." "Now, that sounds like someone I know!" cried a voice from the shore.  
With an embarrassed squeal, Kagome dove into the middle of the spring, hiding her body under the dark, murky water and shot a glare at the hanyou who had just stumbled in on her private musings.  
"INUYASHA!!! I am this close to saying 'the word'! How dare you interrupt me, when I'm bathing and..."  
"And what? When you were talking to yourself, like a moron?" asked the half-demon, with a smirk stretching across his handsome face. "That must be what has you in a twit, because I ain't heard you complain about me interrupting your bath in weeks!"  
Kagome felt her cheeks burning and knew that it wasn't just the hot water of the springs that was causing the sensation. Inuyasha had removed the outer layers of his fire rat clothing and was already loosening the ties that held his lower clothing in place. When he noticed that she was looking, he stopped what he was doing and winked at her. Her blush deepening, Kagome took a quick swim to the opposite edge of the hot spring and back, to fight off the hentai sensations that were assailing her mind. Upon her return, she breathed a sigh of relief to see that Inuyasha was in the hot spring, resting nonchalantly against a smooth stone, the less-than crystalline water obscuring his sculpted, naked body.  
'Sculpted? Naked? Where is this coming from?!?! Think of something else! Talk! Stop staring!'  
"Inuyasha, haven't you noticed how close Sango and Miroku have become? I was just saying that it doesn't seem necessary for them to fight when-"  
Opening one eye, Inuyasha's brow furrowed in confusion. "What, when they're so much in love? You know, the whole thing reminded me of you!"  
"Me?!?!" Kagome cried incredulously, crossing her arms across her bare breasts. Inuyasha couldn't help but smile. Even sopping wet and put out, she looked gorgeous. Before she could push him away in mock annoyance, he seized her forearms with demon-speed and drew her flush against his chest. As Kagome sputtered in surprise, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Yes, you. You claim you love me, wench, but how many times have you 'sat' me today?" "Not enough," Kagome whispered huskily, as she leaned back and claimed his lips in a demanding kiss. Though shocked by her new-found boldness, Inuyasha was far from dismayed, and he returned her kiss, passion for passion. Wrapping her legs around his waist, Kagome allowed him to pin her to the stone as he deepened the kiss. His left hand kept her head from slamming against the rocky surface, as his right traced a path from her hip, up to her abdomen, lazily tracing the slight scar, where the Shikon no Tama had been ripped from Kagome's body so many years ago, before continuing another tender assault.... The sexual tension that had been building between the hanyou and the young miko for three years, since she was but a schoolgirl of fifteen, had finally come to fruition about a month before, after a particularly harrowing battle with another mutation of Naraku. Though the particulars of the battle were silently sworn to never be discussed among the members of the traveling band of warriors ever again, because of the sensitive matters involved, there was no avoiding the bright truth. In an instant when both were in danger, Inuyasha had chosen to save Kagome rather than Kikyou, at the sacrifice of the elder miko's life. Laying Kagome's unconscious form carefully on the ground, far enough from danger, he turned to see Kikyou struck through by one of the monster's poison-filled spikes. Her eyes turned to the heavens, empty, and the souls that had sustained her walking death burst forth from her form, before her body crumbled to the ground, like a shattered piece of pottery. The small piece of Kagome's soul that had remained within Kikyou in her second existence returned to her and jerked the young woman back to consciousness, fully aware of the decision Inuyasha had made. With the combined attack of her spirit arrow and the Tessaiga, the battle was swiftly won, but the cost had been too grave. Kagome returned to her era, and for the first time, Inuyasha made no attempt to stop her. He came to her a few days later, in her time, finding her in silent vigil by the ancient tree on the grounds of the Higurashi shrine, staring at the place where he had once been pinned for fifty years by the power of the dead priestess, Kikyou. Clutched in his hand were flowers from the Feudal Era, the product of accepting advice from the lecherous monk. Waiting on his tongue was a speech he had polished with Sango's help, a full outlining of the width, depth, and height of his feelings for the young woman who had freed his body three years ago and his heart every day since- -but in that moment, before she turned to him, before a word was uttered, his heart threw several years of deliberation and days of fierce planning out the window. Dropping the flowers at his feet, he scooped her up off the ground, and, before she could protest, brought his lips to hers in a chaste but sweet kiss. She didn't respond. Drawing back, he held her flush against his chest, sure that if held her to himself, she wouldn't risk squashing them both with the many "sits" he so rightfully deserved, but when nothing was uttered between them for several moments, he dared to look into her eyes, and what he saw there gave him the courage to repeat his indiscretion again and again. No questions were asked, and the name Kikyou was never uttered between them again. Neither of them questioned the certainty of their feelings; in the instant when Inuyasha failed to save Kikyou, when the purloined portion of Kagome's soul was finally returned to her, there had been an actualization of all that had been felt but not spoken of for years, and there was no trace of regret or doubt. Their love was immediate, their love was eternal, their love transcended time, and it was actualized when Inuyasha crushed his Kagome to his chest that night, leapt through the well, and returned to the deep forest where she had set him free, to claim her as his woman, his love, in a tradition older than time itself.  
  
With a sigh, Kagome nestled her head against Inuyasha's chest as they rested on the grassy edge of the hot spring, his red haori fighting off the chill of the dusk air. For weeks now, they had been slipping away to hot springs, into the forests away from the others at night, always leaving separately, to keep their private affairs just that-private. There was nothing more entertaining to little Shippou and even Sango and Miroku than watching for tender moments between their friends, so Inuyasha and Kagome had put a little more effort into their bickering. Kagome couldn't help but giggle. Inuyasha was right; she had been 'sitting' him a lot more than he really deserved, but if he was going to take liberties- "How did you manage to slip away unnoticed?" she asked, shifting her position, so that her body was atop his, lightly pinning him to the ground. Even though her "trapping" him could have been easily ended, all Inuyasha did was raise an eyebrow at her pert line of question. "Feh, it was easy, wench. Sango and Miroku are busy having a "fight" of their own, and Shippou, well, let's just say I beat him at his own game." "Hmm?" she queried innocently, softly rubbing his furry ears, a move he couldn't resist. With a groan of pleasure, he nuzzled his ear shamelessly against her palm. "I used one of his little toys on him. I think he's been pinned under that giant top this whole time...." From where Shippou lay, pressed under the enormous weight of the spinning top, he could hear a resounding cry of "SIT!!!!!!" echo through the woods, followed by a large thump and more cursing than he had ever heard in his life. Giggling insanely, he knew that his wonderful Kagome was on the way to save him. Justice had been served once again. "Some things just never change!"  
  
March 11, 2004: House keeping? Fluff your pillow? Just kidding! I decided to do some tidying up of the story as a whole, before I post Chapter Six. This is the "newly remastered" Chapter One, predominantly typo free. Enjoy! 


	2. The Intermission

"Act Two" -E. Marie E-mail: Emw712@aol.com  
  
January 20, 2004: There hasn't been a terrible amount of feedback thus far regarding the first installment, but my motto is: don't worry, get writing! So, here it is! As I have an innate distaste for disclaimers (springing from an innate laziness) I hereby declare that all of the characters of this work, (except for the few, minor peons I create for my own amusement) are not my original work! This is fanfiction! If I could have been the first to come up with the idea of a Japanese schoolgirl falling down a well and happening upon a hot, comatose half-demon, stuck to a tree.well, let's just say that disclaimers and car insurance wouldn't be much cause for concern. I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Chapter Two: The Intermission  
  
Orange light of the sunset danced across the bodies of a man and a woman, lying content in the soft grass, resting almost innocently. One would have to say "almost", because even though these two were in a rather compromising position, they were completely clothed. Indeed, it was the man's hand, gloved in purple leather straps and encased with prayer beads, inching down the woman's lower back and reaching for the swell of her buttocks that drove away the tender image this scene originally presented. *sigh. With every action comes and equal and opposite-  
WHAM! The sound of at least a hundred bounds of well-crafted demon bone cracking against human flesh and bone echoed throughout the surrounding forest, scaring away the array of disgustingly cute woodland creatures that had, a moment ago, been adding to the wonderful, romantic scene, now ruined by lechery.  
"Sorry, Miroku-chan!" cried Sango, blushing as she tossed her over- sized weapon to the side in order to care for a rather dazed Miroku. "I forgot that I had promised to allow you such freedoms in private!"  
With a grimace of pain that looked remarkably like a smirk, Miroku lightly stroked the growing bump on the top of his head.  
"We all have our moments, my dear Sango-but I believe you know the only remedy for the wound you have inflicted on me-"  
Slugging him playfully in the arm before wrapping her arms around his neck, Sango murmured, "Always a lecher, ne?" before depriving Miroku of his ability to breathe with her favorite and least violent method: a sweltering kiss.  
Even Miroku, despite his lusty front, was never fully prepared for the depth of passion he felt in the moments he shared like this with Sango, away from the rest of their group of wanderers. Even though the danger of either of them losing their lives in battle (or Miroku suddenly being consumed by his kazaana), the pair had come to a mutual decision that they would not truly be united as a couple until the destruction of Naraku. There were just too many dangers, and with the final battle looming on the horizon, with victory so tangible, the warriors would need every hand available. This certainly meant no maternity leaves. Thankfully, this self-sacrificing pair was completely ignorant of exactly how far Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship had progressed, for it certainly would have made their own forbearance bittersweet. Nevertheless, local villagers had spotted one of Naraku's offspring but a few days before, and even though they were stopping at Kaede's village for supplies the next day, the final battle seemed to be at hand. But, hey, who's to stop lovers from a few kisses during peaceful interludes in the bushes?  
'Besides', thought Miroku, as his hand slide possessively up Sango's silk-covered thigh, 'with Naraku weakened and so close at hand, we'll be starting on those ten or twenty children in no time at-'  
"SIT!!!!"  
WHAM!  
And the serenading birds were interrupted again. With a start, Miroku and Sango turned in the direction of camp, before bursting out in laughter.  
"Some things never change", remarked Sango, as she began to straighten the collar of her casual kimono.  
"Hai, and as much as I would like to tumble with you in the soft grass for the rest of the evening, my wanton lady, I fear that it is growing dark, and our compatriots are already back to their usual tricks". Miroku rose and offered Sango his hand to help her do the same, which she slapped aside, as any good demon slayer ought.  
"Me! Wanton! Just wait until I fix my kimono which YOU wrinkled AGAIN, and I'll teach you the importance of being a gentleman!"  
"Whatever you say.sexy!"  
"OOOOOOH!!! I can't believe Kagome-chan taught you that word! I'll knock it right out of your head!" Sango scrambled for her weapon, as Miroku began to sprint toward the safety of camp, laughing all the way. As the all too familiar whiz of the Hiraikotsu grew closer and closer, Miroku could only chuckle to himself and think:  
"Some things never change." ***  
  
Red eyes slanted as they observed the antics of her mandated enemies from the sky. Clutching a small bag that glowed with a great spiritual power to her breast, where her heart should have been, the demoness circled the area once before heading to her ordered destination. After only a few moments, the end of her mission was in sight. Floating over the enchanted forest, tangled with centuries of dark growth, she could still clearly make out the shape of the ancient, magical well, even in the dying light of the sun. Knowing that she was being watched, even in her brief moments of reflection, she clutched that bag tighter and disappeared into the mists of the night, returning to her master, mission complete.  
  
***  
  
Even as she continued to scold Inuyasha for his cruel treatment of Shippou, Kagome couldn't help but shiver as she felt the immense power of what felt like hundreds of jewel shards appear and seemingly disappear in a matter of seconds. She turned to Inuyasha, to see if he had sensed anything odd, but the dog demon was too busy sulking and picking the compacted dirt out of his hair and mouth from that last round of "sits" to pay her any mind. Closing her eyes and concentrating her spiritual powers, as she had learned to do after years of hands-on training as a priestess, she searched for the shards that had set her senses on edge, but before she could form a clear image of the possessor of all those shards, the person (or demon, most likely) vanished in some kind of mist. Wrinkling her brow, Kagome couldn't help but feel uneasy that the mass of jewel shards had seemed to be so close to Kaede's village-  
"Kagoooooomeeee!!!! I want some pocky!" wailed a tiny voice in her right ear. With an exasperated sigh, she shook the thoughts of the pieces of the Shikon no Tama from her mind. Her senses were still just that, senses, and any human sense can be misleading.  
'I'm probably just tired,' she thought, as she dug through her massive pack, handing over another large bag of the desired chocolate treat to the delighted kitsune. As Shippou sucked delightedly on his treat, Kagome allowed her attention to wander again, until she was brought back to reality by the feeling of a warm hand on her shoulder.  
"Hey, what's wrong, 'Gome?" Inuyasha asked softly, running his claws lightly up and down her spin, a tried and true method for calming her nerves. Looking up into his concerned amber eyes, Kagome couldn't help the warmth that swelled in her heart as she saw that, even through his worries about her, love echoed deep with his eyes. Leaning softly against his frame with a contented sigh, she murmured, "Nothing, nothing at all."  
Leaning closer to his woman, Inuyasha glanced around quickly to see if their were any spying eyes. Shippou was too absorbed with annihilating the earthly remains of his pocky treat to be aware of even the end of the world, but Kirara was crouched near the fire Inuyasha had just started, her eyes gleaming with feline mischief.but a steely glare in her direction was enough to make the cat demon almost roll her eyes (if cats could do such a thing) as she turned her head away. Free of the distractions of unwanted witnesses, Inuyasha leaned in closer to kiss Kagome lightly on her forehead and then her lips.  
"And I'll try to keep it that way. I love you, Kagome." 


	3. Cue the Lights

"Act Two" ~E. Marie E-mail: Emw712@aol.com  
  
February 3, 2004: This is still fanfiction, so no suing allowed! Reviews would be appreciated, even if they're just flames to keep me toasty while I type. ^_^  
  
Chapter Three: Cue the Lights  
  
The wind teased her black tresses from the careful queue at the nape of her neck, and with a sigh of frustration, Kagome wiped the stray pieces of hair back from her face, gleaming with sweat. Gathering herbs in the dark forest was a strenuous chore, but one she was more than glad to do if it meant giving Kaede a moment of leisure. The last three years had aged the elder priestess perhaps more than any of the others; the burden of protecting her village coupled with the continuing tragedy of the Shikon no Tama and her sister's resurrection had worn deeper tracks around her grey eye, and her hair was now a white-silver that rivaled that of Inuyasha. Returning to the village after another fruitless search for Naraku had become a recurring theme over the last several months, and even though this break from the hunt meant they had been unsuccessful, Kagome was glad for the chance to help her mentor. Doubling her efforts, the young miko turned back to the herbs in front of her.  
"Amazing, isn't it?" Kagome thought aloud, while ripping another leafy plant from the ground. "Three years ago, I wouldn't have known a healing herb from a kutzu leaf. I've learned so much, well, here anyway. I'm just glad I was able to finish school without completely disgracing myself-"  
"But I thought you weren't finished!" called Inuyasha, as he leapt from the god tree, his prison of half a century, to land just behind her.  
With a grin, Kagome threw the plant she had just pulled, dirt clinging to the roots and all, at Inuyasha's smirking face, a playful attack the half demon easily dodged.  
"Inu-chan, we've talked about this before. Continuing my education to become a doctor in my time is hardly something I can begin while I'm still fighting the ultimate evil, five hundred years in the past. That's just a part of my future-"  
"OUR future," Inuyasha interjected.  
"-our future," Kagome continued with a smile, "that will have to wait until we have recovered all the other fragments of the sacred jewel and finished Naraku for good...if that time ever comes."  
With a light growl, Inuyasha crouched down in front of his woman, bringing his nose flush to her own.  
"We've already begun our future, Kagome, and I would never let anyone, not even that damned Naraku, touch our happiness. Someday, your belly will be rounded with our pups growing inside you, and I'll protect them with my sword while you save them with your medicine. In your time and in this time!"  
A light blush covered her face at his allusion, and she shifted to nuzzle her cheek against his. "I can't believe you've put so much thought into this, Inuyasha. Do you really want me to be the mother of your childr- , er, pups?"  
"Feh," he replied, with a grunt. "Would I do this?" Inuyasha asked, while swiftly pushing her on to her back, pinning her legs wide, and positioning his clothed body provocatively between her thighs. "If I didn't want pups?"  
With a light giggle, Kagome grazed her nails down his back, drawing him closer. "If you were anyone else, except maybe Miroku, I would give you a funny look for saying that...but since it seems you're hopelessly in love with me, I'll just have to let it slide, ne?" She ground her hips against his, laughter dancing in her eyes.  
"Damn straight," he growled, as he claimed her lips in a hungry kiss, his claws snaking down her arms, so he could capture her hands above her head. Before her heart began to beat any louder in her ears, Kagome broke the kiss and gasped aloud, "Kaede!"  
With a raised eyebrow, Inuyasha released her hands. "Not quite the name I expected you to cry out, 'Gome."  
"No, baka, Kaede needs the herbs for one of the sick villagers. Take them to her for me, please? We'll continue this later, if you're a good puppy!"  
Twisting away, Inuyasha muttered, "Don't press your luck, wench," before turning to grin at her over his shoulder. Whether or not he said it often enough, Kagome looked stunning, even in the work clothes of a miko...especially when she glowed with the heat of the day and the "activities" of the last few minutes. Gathering the full basket of herbs under one arm, he watched as Kagome turned back to her chores, to fill a second basket.  
"Since you're being, nice, Inuyasha, I'll pretend I didn't hear what you just called me," said Kagome rather primly, as she peered up at him, her eyes an unreadable mixture of merriment and a murderous glare.  
Bending to place a kiss on the top of her head, Inuyasha leapt into the trees. "Say 'osuwari', and the herbs get it!"  
Laughing, Kagome turned back to the plants before her, grateful for the little interlude and the unexpected help. Before the sun dipped back behind the trees, she had finished, and picking up the last basket, now heavy with the fruit of her labor, Kagome began the short trek back to the village. She didn't get far before the presence of a thousand jewel shards, approaching at top speed, made her drop the basket and break into a run. Nearing the well on her way to the village, Kagome opened her mouth to cry for Inuyasha when she was pushed flat to the ground by a gust of wind, the very air knocked from her lungs. As she gasped for breathe, Kagome turned to see Kagura looming over her.  
"Take this, priestess, and use it well!" cried the demoness, pressing the nearly complete Shikon no Tama into Kagome's hand. Leaping back onto her magic feather, Kagura vanished as quickly as she had come, leaving Kagome sprawled on the ground, dazed and confused. Rising to her feet, she stared at the shining jewel in her hand for but a moment, before sounds of yelling and the sight black smoke, coming from the direction of the village, captured her attention. A surge of power erupted through the surrounding forest, and as she called out for Inuyasha, Naraku, in a cloud of dark miasma, emerged into the clearing. Inuyasha, Tessuaiga drawn, was in hot pursuit, as Sango and Miroku kept a small army of lesser demons at bay.  
Seeing Kagome standing by the ancient well that had allowed her to overcome time, Naraku leered, showing his sharp teeth.  
"Ku ku ku ku ku...how easy you have made this for me, priestess! With you joining Kikyou in the land of the dead, there will be no one left to undo all I have done to taint the sacred jewel!"  
"You bastard! You won't touch her!" cried Inuyasha, as he leapt at Naraku, ready to kill. A faint look of annoyance crossed Naraku's sinister face before he sent a spike, dripping with lethal miasma, straight through Inuyasha's chest, to his very heart. With a cry, the hanyou fell to the ground, blood and putrid poison bursting from the wound.  
"Inuyasha, no!!" cried Kagome, as she collapsed against the lip of the well from the shock of seeing her lover impaled. Clutching her hand to her heart, she pressed the Shikon no Tama against her breast. Stinging tears began to stream down her face.  
"Don't worry...you'll be joining him soon," said Naraku with sickening calmness, as he sent another spike, just as deadly, at Kagome's heart. The speed at which the spike flew at her frail body did not even allow Miroku, Sango, or Shippou the chance to cry aloud in warning or fear, but as the weapon born of Naraku's flesh drove through her hand and palm on its journey to her heart, it struck the Shikon no Tama. A blast of pink magic erupted from the jewel as it shattered once more, this time into mere flakes of dust. With a cry of excruciating pain, Kagome fell backwards into the darkness of the well.  
"The jewel?!?!? Nooooooo!!!" cried Naraku, and in his anger at having destroyed his prize, the very meaning of his demonic existence, he demolished the ancient well with a swipe of one of his tentacles. As she fell through the blue, swirling gate between worlds, the tiny slivers of the jewel cutting into her skin, Kagome saw the portal of light on the other end disappear. The blue spheres of swirling energy around her died into nothingness, and she gave into the pain of her body and her broken heart. All was lost.  
On the ground, a broken Inuyasha stretched his hand toward the shattered remains of the well, poison and unshed tears clouding his vision.  
"Kagome...."  
  
*****  
  
With a groan, Kagome rolled over on the hard, rocky surface. Confusion darkened her consciousness, until she remembered where she was...and why she was there.  
"INUYASHA! The well! Oh, Kami!" she cried as she leapt to her feet, only to look up from the bottom of the well to see, not the ceiling of the well shrine in modern Tokyo, as she had expected...but instead, the most perfect sunlight peering in, and ivy growing down the aging walls of the dried well. A look of shock marred her pretty features, and she raised her hand to touch her forehead...only to realize that that particular hand had just been pierced by a poisonous spike from an evil demon. But there was no wound. Her hand was whole!  
With a cry of surprise, Kagome looked down at her body, which should have, by all the laws of biology, been dripping with blood from the thousands of tiny, painful cuts made by the slivers of the twice-broken Shikon no Tama, but there was no blood. She should have been wearing her miko clothing, covered with dirt and her own blood, but there she was, wearing one of her old schoolgirl uniforms. Strangely enough, this uniform seemed to be brand new, and it fit her perfectly, because her breasts seemed to have suddenly become a little smaller. Raising her shirt, she gasped when she saw that the scar that had marked the place where the jewel had been ripped from her body, three years ago, had disappeared, without a trace.  
"What is going on?!?!?" she cried. Turning her face back to the top of the well, Kagome fought the nausea and déjà vu that threatened to overwhelm her sanity.  
"Hello? Inuyasha? Miroku? Sango? Anybody? Heeeeellllp!!!!" Her cries were met with the chirping of birds and the overwhelming tranquility of the world above. Fighting her tears, Kagome grabbed one of the vines that ran along the side of the well and frantically began to climb out. Throwing her feet over the edge of the well, her eyes grew wide. The surrounding forest, which had been smoldering just moments before from Naraku's attack, was as peaceful and green as ever. White butterflies danced across the clearing, oblivious to the stuttering girl from the future whose nails were digging into the flesh of her palms. Her fear running high, Kagome turned and ran to the one place that could afford her the peace to gather her thoughts and silence her desperation. She fell to her knees at the sight that awaited her.  
"Inu...ya...sha...." The name died as a whisper on her lips, as she beheld her beloved half demon, locked in limbo against the bark of the god tree. Fifty years of forest growth had made its way up his body, and an aged arrow pinned his sleeping form to the tree.  
  
March 11, 2004: House keeping? Fluff your pillow? Just kidding! I decided to do some tidying up of the story as a whole, before I post Chapter Six. This is the "newly remastered" Chapter Three, predominantly typo free. Enjoy! 


	4. Costume Change

"Act Two" ~E. Marie E-mail: Emw712@aol.com  
  
February 4, 2004: Two updates within a period of a few days! *gasp! What will people think? (Hopefully, they'll think, 'hey, maybe I should review!'...but I'm not gonna push it! Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to share your thoughts and/or words of encouragement!) Feel free to be critical! My skin's as thick as an elephant's hide...metaphysically speaking, of course ^_^.  
  
Chapter Four: Costume Change  
  
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kagome pinched her right arm with all of her might.  
'Aaaaaaaaaany minute! Any minute now, I'll wake up, and I'll be back in the well, and Inuyasha will be smacking Naraku silly for trapping me at the bottom and making me have this awful nightmare where I'm going insane!!!!' She could feel the little bruises beginning to rise on her arm, but this was the only answer she could come up with: pinching—still, there she was, in the forest under the bright sunshine. The wind played with the hem of her short school uniform, reminding her that she was still trapped somewhere other than where she should have been (and desperately wanted to be) at that moment. Admitting failure, Kagome sighed her defeat and opened her eyes, to face her living nightmare.  
There Inuyasha was, sealed to the god tree, just as he had been before she had released him three years ago.  
"No," Kagome said aloud, puzzlement creeping into her voice. "He's not the same. What is he WEARING?"  
Inuyasha, this Inuyasha, had the same flowing silver hair, the same cute dog ears that she longed to pet, the same sharp canines poking out through his mouth, which was closed in slumber. Kagome would have bet a thousand yen that his eyes, underneath those shut lids, were the same glowing amber orbs that held all the love and anger the hanyou ever felt. His lean, muscular body, though slightly smaller than when she had last seen him in battle with Naraku, was obscured as always by his baggy haori...but what was most confusing was that the red fire rat's fur, a sight so familiar that she felt she knew ever thread in the fabric, was now a gleaming blue!  
Putting a shaking hand to her temple, Kagome fought the urge to scream aloud her confusion and utter frustration.  
"This is just too much...." She pushed herself to her feet and made her way pensively to where his body was pegged to the god's tree. Climbing the woody growth about the trunk, she was able to touch him for the first time all over again....  
Laying her palm, cool with anxious sweat, on his cheek, Kagome almost jumped at how warm his flesh felt to her touch. Wrapping her arms around his body, (well, as best she could, considering he was still bound to a rather large tree), she nuzzled her head into his chest. Even through all the folds of the dark blue fabric, she could hear, faintly, the beating of his heart.  
"Thank Kami, you're alive," Kagome murmured, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't know what Naraku has done to us now, Inuyasha, but I will free you, and he will pay for making us live through this all over again."  
An arrow whizzed above her head, barely missing Inuyasha's right ear as it embedded itself in the bark of the god tree. A volley of arrows, all warning shots, did the same, as Kagome groaned aloud.  
"Oh, not again!" she cried, turning reluctantly from her one-sided embrace with the comatose hanyou to glare menacingly at the village men, all armed with arrows ready to seek a home in her bosom if she made a false move.  
"Are you a demon, girl? What are you doing in Inuyasha's Forest?" cried one of the larger men, clearly the leader of this small band.  
Rolling her eyes, Kagome jumped down from her place at Inuyasha's side and began to walk toward the hunting party. The rest of the villagers tensed, drawing their bows more taunt. "Honestly, Yoishi! You act as though you don't know me!" cried Kagome, as she stopped in her tracks, fear swarming her thoughts and choking her voice.  
"Witch! How doest thou know me?!?!" cried the headman, confusion thick in his shout.  
"I saved your daughter, Yume, from a demon attack! That was just two years ago...." Kagome stopped speaking. If this insane dream was more than what it seemed, then she wouldn't be saving the headman's daughter until months from that moment!  
"TAKE ME TO KAEDE!!!!" she cried aloud, before the headman could strike her for her pernicious lie.  
"We'll do just that, wench! It's been many a year since our elder priestess has defeated a witch such as yourself, but Kaede is wise and powerful still!" cried the headman, as he seized her roughly and, with the help of the other villagers, bound her arms and legs to carry her bodily to the village. With a sigh, Kagome decided not to put forth a struggle. If all went as it had before, Kaede would have her bonds cut free within the hour.  
  
Villagers milled about the mat Kagome had been tossed on, afraid to approach but too curious to stop staring. Sighing, the alleged witch let her sense of déjà vu take over as she waited for the appearance of the elder priestess. The village was just as she had remembered it from this same day three years ago, with only a few minor changes, like the proximity of the yam hut to one of the hen houses. There were many of these subtle differences between her memory and the village she say at that moment, but often times, she had to look closely to notice them. The more tiny changes she found, the more the confusion sprang from her mind to take root in her heart.  
'If Naraku shattering the Shikon no Tama and the well messed up the time travel process, why isn't everything the same as I remember it? If I'm back in the past, the past of three years ago, why have things changed?'  
Her eyes clouded with tears of frustration, and Kagome looked down at her lap, to hide her distress from the slue of spectators who had gathered a 'safe distance' from where she sat, bound. Yet, even her lap didn't afford her much comfort. Maybe she had just been too distracted earlier to notice...or perhaps the well was too dark....For whatever reason, Kagome had completely missed the fact that the uniform she was wearing was also just a little different; the color of the skirt was a little darker, and the cuffs and collar of her sailor blouse were a darker shade of green, to match.  
"That's it! I'm insane!!!!" Kagome shouted, this new discovery setting her a little over the edge.  
"That's what I'm here to determine, child," called a familiar voice from behind. Kagome tried to turn to face the elder priestess Kaede, but her legs had been tied to her wrists, hogtied, and all she succeeded in doing was toppling over, causing her to hit the mat face first.  
"KAEDE!" she cried, relief flooding her senses. "Please, untie me! Something has happened with Naraku, and-"  
"Steady, child," cooed the old woman, as she grasped the stranger by her shoulders, helping to draw the girl back up to a sitting position. "What is your name, and who is this Naraku of which you speak? Better still, how doest thou know of me, and why were thou found in the dark forest of the wicked Inuyasha?"  
Kagome's brow creased in disappointment, for she had hoped that whatever spell Naraku had her under would have allowed some of her friends to retain their memories, even if they had undergone a bit of a costume change. Looking closely at Kaede, however, Kagome couldn't help but feel a little relieved, for even though it appeared this Kaede before her had no recollection of the Inugumi and the search for the shattered Shikon no Tama in this era, she looked the same as she always had, with her priestess robes and eye patch.  
Noticing the softening of the girl's expression, Kaede grinned and leaned in to cut the bonds that connected the prisoner's feet with her hands. The girl was still bound by her wrists and ankles, but now this familiar stranger could perhaps feel more at ease. The surrounding villagers looked at each other nervously but decided to hold their tongues. Before the elder priestess could begin asking her questions again, the girl from the future twice over leaned toward Kaede and asked in a heart- wrenching voice, dripping with desperation:  
"Kaede-sama, look into my face. Who do I remind you of?" Surprise registered in the priestess' lone good eye, as she beheld the remarkable likeness of her elder sister Kikyou, just as she had looked as a young woman, over fifty years ago.  
"What sorcery is this...?" choked the old woman as she leaned away, her emotions overcoming her.  
"Kaede-sama, my name is Higurashi Kagome, and I am the reincarnation of your elder sister, Kikyou. I've come from-" Kagome paused, contemplating how much to reveal to the elder priestess now but decided that including that they'd already 'been here, done this' might have been too hard to believe.  
"I'm from five hundred years in the future!" Kagome continued, her enthusiasm and desperation to be believed making her words loud enough to be heard by all the surrounding villagers, who turned to each other with excited whispers.  
"How can this be?" asked the elder priestess, more to herself than to the girl before her. "My sister died fifty years ago; her body was burned with the Shikon no Tama....how could this girl be here now?"  
'Good question,' thought Kagome. 'I'll tell ya how as soon as I figure this out.' "I was pulled through the Bone Eaters Well!" she cried, instead. "The Shikon no Tama, burned within Kikyou's body, is inside of me!"  
At this, the crowd's whispers grew to a roar, which Kaede silenced with a single glare of her good eye. Turning back to this so-called reincarnation, she studied the girl's facial features with great scrutiny. Though there were many similarities between the profiles of this strange young woman and her deceased elder sister, there were too many subtle differences to count. The serenity of Kikyou's demeanor was here fully replaced by a willfulness of spirit and a degree of vivacity that the dead priestess had lacked. Where her sister's eyes had been as tranquil as a sea untouched by the winds of the world, this girl's eyes glowed with a nameless passion that was beautiful yet almost terrifying to behold. Shaking her head, the elder priestess spoke to Kagome in a raised tone, for the benefit of the on-lookers:  
"I cannot make a clear judgment as to who ye are, stranger! We have faced the evil of shape-shifting demons and witchcraft before, but never have I been met with something this startling and confusing, in all my years as miko of this village. There is but one way to decide if you are who you claim to be: a divine test!"  
The villagers murmured their approval of such an action, and in the interlude, Kaede whispered to Kagome, "Child, I want desperately to believe ye, for long have I missed my sister's spirit these fifty years hence. You have an air of innocence about you which I find endearing, and I pray ye pass the test."  
"What if I fail?!?!" asked Kagome, afraid at this new turn of events. Things were not going as well as they had gone the first time through.  
"If ye fail, the villagers will mostly likely want to put ye to death for your being found embracing the body of the devil-demon Inuyasha. Worry not, child. If ye are truly the reincarnation of Kikyou, her great ability and love of archery will not have left ye!"  
At the mention of failure equaling death, Kagome gulped. 'Let's hope not,' she thought, as Kaede cut her free of her bonds and helped her to her feet.  
  
Fighting the butterflies in her stomach was taking all of Kagome's concentration, which was unfortunate, because the test of her life was about to begin. Kaede had given her a bow and a single sacred arrow. As the villagers gathered on either side of the field of the trial, the elder priestess counted a hundred paces from a tree at the edge of the forest and position Kagome at that point. Raising her arm, she pointed a gnarled finger at the now distant tree.  
"Doth ye see the knot on yonder tree, just below the lowest branch?" Squinting her eyes and raising a hand to her brow to shield her sight from the bright sun, Kagome nodded tentatively.  
Turning to the crowd, Kaede raised her hands to silence the excited villagers, who had started making bets on whether or not the young stranger would pass the test.  
"Oh, my people! This alone will determine the truth of the matter! This strange girl, Higurashi Kagome, who claims she is the great Kikyou returned to us, must pierce the knot on yonder tree with a single arrow. This is a feat my elder sister was able to complete with ease when she was among the living, a task that no one else could accomplish. If Kagome is successful, then her identity is proved beyond a question, and we will accept that she is a miko from the distant future. If, however, she fails, then you may exact your justice on her come the morrow, according to the village tradition!"  
Thunderous applause marked the villagers' approval, and as the headman Yoishi struck a ceremonial gong, silence seized the crowd. The test had begun. Drawing a deep breath, Kagome strung the arrow and looked worriedly at her target, a mere speck like any other speck in the distance.  
'I've killed my share of Naraku's poisonous insects from a greater distance than this,' Kagome thought calmly, trying desperately to quench her nervous thoughts. An air of tranquility overcame her anxiety, and she tried to aim the arrow and draw the bow string taunt, only to find that her muscles ached from what should have been a simple, everyday movement.  
'My arms haven't been this weak since-' She let the arrow fly. 'Since I first learned to how to shoot! My BODY doesn't remember? So, that means, my aim....'  
"GAAAAAHHH! MY LEG!!!" cried Yoishi, as the misfired arrow stuck into his thigh. Half of the villagers laughed aloud at Kagome's terrible aim, while the other half, the friends and family of the now injured headman, grumbled angrily.  
"Failure!" cried Kaede, as she turned her disappointed gaze to Kagome. "Take her to the temple, and bind this witch fast. Sacred law prevents harming her until the morrow, so remember that, my people, lest ye face the anger of the gods!"  
As she walked past a dejected Kagome on her way back to the village, Kaede murmured, "I'm sorry that there is no more I can do for ye now, child. Worry not, I will pray for the repose of your soul and make sure that you receive a decent burial."  
Disbelief overcame Kagome's senses, but she lashed out desperately at the villagers who swarmed her, until she was overwhelmed and bond once more before being locked in the temple warehouse. In her distress, she wanted to cry for Inuyasha, but given her current situation, she thought it best to keep her thoughts to herself.  
  
Light from the crescent moon peeked in through the sole window of the dusty store room, but Kagome was little cheered by the silvery glow. Who would be, with torture and death awaiting the rise of the sun?  
"I DON'T GET THIS!!!!" she bellowed aloud, letting her head fall slack against the wall behind her. Her legs and arms were tied in front of her this time, so at least she was mildly comfortable...not that it really mattered, with self-righteous villagers waiting to kill her for no apparent reason in a few hours.  
"My body is not the same! I can't do anything now that I couldn't three years ago, but I have all these memories and feelings that I had just yesterday, when I fell asleep next to Inuyasha! It's like my body's gone back to what it was, but my mind is the same, and my soul...my spirit...MY SPIRIT! Of course!!!" Closing her eyes, Kagome began to concentrate on reaching a tranquil state of being, chanting an ancient mantra that she had learned from Kaede, the first time through this adventure. The three years she had spent hunting the jewel shards had taught her how to channel her miko powers and to tap into her latent spiritual abilities. Though her body may have regressed into that of her 15 year old self, her mind and thus, her spirit, should have retained all the power she had gained through three years of nearly ceaseless training.  
A faint pink hue glowed about her body, illuminating the dark temple warehouse and fighting back the shadows of the night. Furrowing her brow in deepest concentration, Kagome was able to channel her miko energy into her wrists, which began to glow even brighter. The ropes around her wrists were soon burned clear away, and rubbing the numbness from her fingers, she quickly went about untying her legs, the supernatural glow fading from the room. All possibilities of eminent danger aside, Kagome couldn't help but smile. This recent discovery was the first bit of good news she had had all day!  
Before she could make her escape, her ears caught the sound of footsteps, belonging to a single person, approaching the door. Fearful of her escape being cut short by an early discovery, Kagome tossed the burnt pieces of rope behind a crate and wrapped the remaining cords swiftly around her hands and feet for the appearance of being tied in place. The door slid open, and the priestess Kaede entered the room. The old woman's eyes glowed with an indescribable emotion as she raised a finger to her lips, urging the young woman to remain silent. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief before she gasped in fear as Kaede brought an ancient sacrificial knife, its blade gleaming menacingly in the moonlight, out from within her robes....  
  
Author's Note: Please, don't forget to review! There are a lot of questions left unanswered, I know, but I won't know what I need to clarify if I don't get feedback! Thanks!  
  
March 11, 2004: House keeping? Fluff your pillow? Just kidding! I decided to do some tidying up of the story as a whole, before I post Chapter Six. This is the "newly remastered" Chapter Four, predominantly typo free. Enjoy! 


	5. Enter the Hero?

"Act Two" ~E. Marie E-mail: Emw712@aol.com  
  
February 4, 2004: The roommate's gone, the dorm is unusually quiet...nothing to do but fill the soundless void with the voice of Howie Day and the tapping of my fingers, typing away on my keyboard! Unfortunately, this means I am forging on, blindly ignorant of how the readers felt about Chapter Four: "Costume Change". Eh, me no worry. Odds are, there won't be that many reviews, anyway. Slowly but surely, slowly but surely...^_^. Please, read on and review!  
  
Chapter Five: Enter the Hero?  
  
The reflection of a young woman, her pretty face haunted by eyes full of fear, was caught on the shining surface of the old sacrificial knife, arthritic fingers curled tightly around its handle. Kagome's body tensed, waiting for the moment when the old woman would lung at her with the glittering weapon, ready to lash out at just the right moment and make her escape. Wordlessly, Kaede leaned towards Kagome, but the knife staid by her side. Kagome's eyes, if it was physically possible, widened further in disbelief as the priestess stooped to cut the make-shift bonds about her wrists and ankles, only to gasp in surprise to see that they were false, that the girl was already free.  
"How didst thou...?" queried the old woman. Pushing the ropes aside and extended her arms, wrists pink from the remaining warmth of her miko energy, Kagome admitted to using her spiritual ability to burn through the ropes. The wrinkles around Kaede's mouth doubled in number as her face was illuminated by a smile.  
"I knew ye were being truthful! I could feel the power of the Shikon no Tama, radiating from your body, but I could not be certain...."  
"Why didn't you just tell the villagers that, Kaede-sama?" asked Kagome, her voice taunt with frustration. "Why make me go through the test? The chance of being tortured and killed?!?! If you really believed I was Kikyou's reincarnation, why do all this?"  
Kaede's smile did not fade at the young girl's reproach. "But, child, I did not truly know, until even after the test had condemned thee. After sunset, I recalled that the first time Kikyou attempted to pierce the knot in a demonstration of ability before the villagers, to show her prowess, she missed and hit our father in a rather uncomfortable place, shall we say?"  
Kagome was torn between laughter and disbelief. 'Kikyou? She missed, too? So, she wasn't so perfect after all...or, at least she wasn't here....'  
That last thought brought Kagome back to the problem at hand: escaping death in the past, a new past. Kaede, however, had come prepared to aid with this task. Opening one of the crates in the temple warehouse, she drew out an aged bow, as well as a quiver full of unused arrows. Blowing the dust from their surface, she handed them to Kagome.  
"These were to have been Kikyou's arrows and bow, a present from me. She never touched them in this life, and I am glad that you can have them to protect you in yours, as much as your ability will allow. Child, as much as I have missed the sight of my sister's visage and her saintly spirit, ye must take leave now, whilst the village slumbers. The nightly guard has been thinned, according to my orders, to make thine escape less arduous."  
"Kaede-sama..." began Kagome, overwhelmed by the kindness of the woman she had grown to love and respect all over again. "I am in your debt a hundred times over, once again...but where do I-"  
"I would return to the Bone Eater's well, dear girl, to make thine escape homeward. The power of the Shikon no Tama inside you will see you to your own time. I pray that malevolent forces will save you having to return here, as much as I would like to see you again."  
Words were beyond Kagome, and embracing the teary-eyed elder priestess, she gathered her new weapons and slipped from the temple warehouse, shielded by the night. Kaede lingered in the darkness of the store room a moment longer, thoughtfully fingering the charred pieces of rope that had bound the miko from the future. Unable to remain longer, she rose and left the temple grounds, stopping to say a prayer at Kikyou's grave before returning to her simple hut.  
  
The night was dark, the crescent moon's pale light now obscured by the black clouds that dotted the midnight sky. A sinister glow, coming from the direction of the god's tree, was all that lit Kagome's path, and she reached the clearing where the ancient well offered her escape from this nightmare, perhaps only into another nightmare. Standing at the edge and staring into the maw of darkness over the side of the well, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and Kagome turned to face that malicious glow, the one that surrounded the place where her past-future lover was imprisoned. His soul had been trapped there for half a century...and now, perhaps Inuyasha would remain there for all eternity.  
'I should go free him!' Kagome thought, before apprehension overcame her. 'But what if I do, and he doesn't know me? What if he attacks me, like he did the first time we met? Kaede won't be there to put the subduing spell on him, and I'll be a goner for sure!'  
Indecision. She lingered for a moment which ran into many moments. The leaves on the haunting trees rustled in nearly silent communion as the wind curled around her lithe body, bringing with it the scent of-  
"Smoke..." murmured Kagome, as she turned to face back at the village. The horizon glowed with a faint orange hue, and for a moment, she thought it was the coming of the dawn, until she noticed the silhouette of smoke against the lapping tongues of fire. Even from the Bone Eater's well, she could see the unearthly orbs of youkai energy, as they continued their assault on the village.  
"The villagers! Kaede!" cried Kagome, as she returned the way she had come as fast as her legs could carry her, drawing an arrow from the quiver to aid in the protection of the village. Even though the humans there would have killed her at dawn if given the chance, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that whatever minor army of demons was attacking the village had been drawn there by the power of the Shikon no Tama, which was somehow still nestled in her body. If Kagome hadn't been in such a desperate hurry, she might have thought to herself that some things never change....  
The sight that greeted her at the edge of the village was a harrowing one. Bodies, some human, some inhuman, some mauled almost beyond recognition...the dirt paths stained with the dark red blood of humans and the stinking, black blood of demons...it would have been far too much for her to have handled three years ago, but at this point, her soul had grown numb to the sights of such carnage. Kagome continued on to Kaede's hut, in hopes of saving the elder priestess from a similar fate, slaying demons of all kinds with her spiritual arrows along the way. Her aim was poor, because her body remained untrained, but by concentrating her spiritual energy into large cones about the arrows, she could demolish even the larger youkai if her arrow was merely close enough.  
Kaede's hut was being torn apart by three dragon demons, each hissing in murderous anticipation as they searched for the Shikon no Tama among the smoldering ruins. Fear for the priestess' safety filled Kagome's heart, but holy anger ruled her mind, and with a swipe of her hand, she was able to incinerate the black hearts of all three demons. Watching their bodies collapse, lifeless, to the ground, she blinked in surprise at her own power.  
'I was never this strong, even in that last decisive battle with Naraku. Could it be that the Shikon no Tama, still hidden somewhere in my body, is giving me this power?'  
Such thoughts had to be delayed, for at that moment, a rather pissed off dragon demon, perhaps a friend of one of the three she had just zapped, jumped her from behind. Sharp claws dug into the skin of her back. Surprised and in pain, Kagome fell and cried out for help.  
  
Deep within the dark forest, a body fifty years at rest pulsed with mystic energy. Silver hair shimmered in the darkness, and sharp canines glistened in a demonic smile, ready to be freed.  
  
In the clearing of another forest, in another time and place, the eyes of a dog hanyou glowed red with rage. His human heart was being devoured by anger and the miasma's poison, but his youkai consciousness knew that his mate had been harmed, maybe even killed, by his arch rival. As Naraku withered at the loss of the Shikon no Tama, he didn't quite seem to notice the cracking of tendons behind him in murderous hands that knew not mercy for a foe. The monk and the demon slayer were too engulfed in grief for the loss of the young priestess and the youkai swarming about them to notice that their hero's heart was being engulfed in darkness....  
From a vantage point far above the battlefield, Kagura muttered a mantra of her own making, praying for deliverance....  
The Tessaiga, the sword of his father's fang that was meant to contain his demon blood, lay uselessly on the ground, its power lost without the presence of the human girl he had wanted to protect most dearly. Naraku was too busy letting his cries of bitter disappointment echo to the heavens to notice the approach of his true enemy, and once he did notice, Naraku simply wasn't fast enough without the proximity of the shards to stop the five lethal claws that penetrated his chest and removed from the bleeding void a black orb. Lips curled in disgust, Inuyasha crushed the dark sphere with his bare hands.  
A cry of unimaginable pain resonated high above the battlefield, as the demoness of the wind toppled from her magic feather, plummeting to the ground with a mind blank of all consciousness. At that same moment, in a castle hidden from human eyes, a mirror shattered into countless pieces, and a girl with gleaming white shin, the demon Kanna, faded from existence.  
Before Kagura's body could be crushed by the impact of her empty flesh with the ground, a flash of white silk and silvery fur snatched her away with one arm. Setting her on the ground with a moderate amount of care, the demon lord drew the Tensaiga.  
"This Sesshomaru is growing too soft of heart," he declared in measured tones, before slicing the amazing sword of life through Kagura's body.  
  
The dragon demon churtled at her easy victory. "Shhhhhhaaaahahahaha! What easy prey is the keeper of the Shikon no Tama! I will eat your flesh, puny one, and become the most powerful de-GAAHH!"  
Sounds of arrows and spears connecting with scales and flesh resonated as meaty thuds in Kagome's ears, as the dragon demon's threat died on her lips. Kagome would have celebrated being saved from death by dragon dinner, but the weight of the dead youkai's body bearing down on her ribs was slowly crushing the air from her lungs. A host of shadowy figures she couldn't make out clearly heaved the oppressive corpse from on top of her, and Kagome saw that her saviors were none other than the villagers!  
"Hurry, oh great mistress! Priestess Kaede is trapped by the shrine of your former self, keeping the demons at bay with only a spiritual ward!" cried one, his voice desperate.  
"Please, miss! She was wounded, and we are grievously afraid! We know now your power is great, for we have witnessed your holiness at work against the demon army," said the headman, as he kneeled at her feet, despite the wound in his thigh her arrow had inflected earlier.  
Capable of only a nod, Kagome turned and ran to the temple, her bow drawn, ready to save the elder priestess, at whatever cost.  
  
A hundred demonic snakes, giant moths, ogres, and other horrific figures rammed their bodies into the faint, glowing ward, only to be repelled back by crackling mystic energy. Kaede's good eye was humorless as she regarded the successful but temporary shield she had put up around the temple. Blood oozed, thick with youkai poison, from a deep wound in her shoulder, but she paid it no mind, even though it was slowly sapping away her life force. Many of the village women and children were gathered in the shrine house behind her, shivering in fear. A few of the warriors stood at her back, ready to delay the inevitable slaughter of the innocents for as long as possible, once the ward failed. With a sigh, Kaede closed her eye and began to chant an ancient prayer, begging for deliverance.  
That prayer was answered when bursts of pink energy erupted outside the edge of the ward, and the cries of dying demons rang clearly in the air. Kaede looked up in surprise as the young woman from before, that Higurashi Kagome, felled all the demons that were attacking the holy citadel. In a few moments, the sky was clear of all attacking youkai, and the ground was slippery with their blood.  
The villagers in the temple house cheered as Kaede created a temporary opening in the ward, to allow their young heroine through. Before the thankful women and children could swarm her with their hugs of gratitude and praise, Kagome knelt next to the elder priestess, who had sunk to her knees due to loss of blood from the wound at her shoulder. Kaede's vision blurred from the demon poison in her body and the unshed tears in her eye.  
"Why hast thou returned, child? Thou should have gone whilst thou had the chance, but I am greatly sorry that I will not much longer enjoy your company in this world," croaked the old woman before she let loose a series of wracking coughs, blood trickling from her mouth.  
With a look of determination, Kagome put her hands, now thick with demon blood, on the edges of Kaede's mortal wound, and shutting her eyes, began to concentrate all of her pure, spiritual energy on the spot. A sizzling sound and the scent of ginger filled the air as Kaede sucked breath in through her teeth, stifling a cry of pain, but in a moment, the pain was gone, and all that lingered around the wound was that faint, pink glow that seemed to be the signature of the younger miko's powers.  
Kagome wiped the sweat from her brow, a grin on her face. "I guess I know how to do more than I thought," she said, before hugging a speechless Kaede. The elder priestess would have hugged her back, to express all of her surprise, relief , and gratitude, had not another swarm of demons appeared from the heavens to crash menacingly against the shield.  
In disbelief, Kagome hurriedly gathered her weapons. Turning to the speechless priestess, she said with a voice tight with regret, "I am very sorry, Kaede-sama, but it appears as though the power of the jewel inside my body is calling to these demons each time I use my miko abilities. There is only one way we can beat them all now!"  
Kaede placed another ofuda at the edge of Kikyou's shrine in a final attempt to strengthen the ward. The village mothers gathered their children and returned to the shelter of the temple house and the surrounding huts, waiting for their inevitable demise. The village farmers turned holy warriors stepped back to the edge of the ward, and with a few whispered instructions to one of the men, Kaede strode toward Kagome and, grabbing her by the arm, headed to the opposite edge of the temple compound.  
In a low tone, the old woman began, "I believe that thou doth plan to release Inuyasha from his slumber, for only he is capable of slaughtering so many demons at once?"  
"Kaede-sama...."  
"Child! Doesth thou not know that the pernicious one hath a conscience miserly enough to slaughter all the demons AND the villagers, with a single slice of his bloody claws, to gain the Shikon no Tama for himself?"  
"Kaede! Whether or not you believe me, Inuyasha has a good heart. I've come to know that in a way I don't think I could ever explain to you!"  
The demons crashed against the other end of the ward with a terrifying clamor, and the blue magic of the ofuda sputtered from the force of the attack. Kagome grabbed Kaede's arm and dragged her through another temporary hole in the spiritual shield.  
"There's no time, Kaede-sama! I'll explain on the way. Inuyasha will be our hero!"  
  
Author's Note: Please review, and feel free to e-mail me if you need any clarification!  
  
March 11, 2004: House keeping? Fluff your pillow? Just kidding! I decided to do some tidying up of the story as a whole, before I post Chapter Six. This is the "newly remastered" Chapter Five, predominantly typo free. Enjoy! 


	6. Exeunt Hope

"Act Two" ~E. Marie E-mail: Emw712@aol.com  
  
March 11, 2004: Sorry for the lateness of the update. I could list all the excuses I have for not posting as frequently, from a bout with the flu to midterms, but what really matters is that this chapter is here, now. I've also cleaned up some of the other chapters, but my computer ate Chapter Two, so it shall remain laden with hidden typos until I can get my hands on the hard copy.  
Please, read and review. Just ask Kandy Keely; I try to respond to any questions as best I can! Thanks!  
  
Chapter Six: Exeunt Hope  
  
With a sickening splatter, demon remains erupted in perfect arcs of bloody scales and flesh, covering the nearby trees. Kagome would have stopped to lose her lunch...if only she'd eaten lunch, if only she wasn't running for her life in a desperate attempt to reach the god tree in time. Not even mentioning the fact that Kaede was no "spring chicken", it was beginning to feel like hours since the two women had left the temporal safety of the temple to try a desperate, half-cracked plan.  
Releasing another arrow into the chest of a rat demon without even breaking her stride, Kagome questioned what she was about to do. Granted, her logic was demanding that she release Inuyasha after Kaede had completed the subduing incantation; it was the best course of action! But her heart...her heart was too busy singing a song of sadness. As confused as she had been at emerging from the Bone Eater's well in the warring states era of three years past, as much as the differences between her memories and this new past haunted her, she felt she could somehow find the strength to deal with it all. Awakening an Inuyasha who did not know her name, who yearned for Kikyou's love as well as her life-blood on his claws, would probably be more than her heart could take. Even as she ran toward the god tree, Kaede gasping for breath by her side, Kagome was still weighing her options. One thing, however, quickly tipped the scales:  
She ran out of arrows.  
Concentrating her miko energy into a raw weapon had been an attack she had used earlier in the fray, when she destroyed the dragon demons at Kaede's hut, but before Kagome could gather enough spiritual energy in her hands to annihilate the youkai at their heels, Kaede stayed the young priestess with a touch on the arm.  
"Do not be foolish, child! Each time thou uses thine pure miko power, it is like a beacon, heralding more youkai to attack us! Thine answer is at the god tree, Kagome!"  
By the end of this short speech, there they were, at the foot of the tree where Inuyasha, in his strange blue haori, was pinned. Kagome's eyes widened in shock, for glaring menacingly at her from underneath silver locks of hair were the amber eyes of Inuyasha.  
"He's awake! He's awa-!" A blast of demonic energy erupted through the forest, knocking Kaede to the ground and hurling Kagome, face first, into the dirt at Inuyasha's feet.  
"You're a mess, Kikyou," snarled the bound Inuyasha, his eyes brightening with malicious intent. "Stop playing in the dirt, bitch!"  
Kagome fought back the tide of mixed emotions that rose within her breast at hearing him speak at last...but hearing him call her Kikyou. Marshalling her strength, she turned to the elder priestess, who was still prostrate on the ground but conscious.  
"Now, Kaede-sama, say the subduing spell!" called Kagome, as she scrambled up the growth about the god tree. The old woman looked puzzled for a moment before she pushed herself to her knees and began to chant in hushed tones. Droplets of light shot through the air, gathering as all too familiar beads and canine teeth about Inuyasha's neck.  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!?" the half-demon bellowed, fighting against the spell that bound him to the tree in an attempt to remove the mystic necklace.  
"No time!" cried Kagome, as she shot a blast of miko energy at a serpent youkai that was about to attack Kaede from behind. The forest was silent at last, but the young girl could see the lights of more malevolent demons gathering in the distance, heading toward the point of her attack. Putting her hands on Inuyasha's shoulders, she leaned in to glare at the stunned hanyou.  
"Listen, Inuyasha! As you can smell, I'm NOT Kikyou, but as much as I would like to explain this all to you, hundreds of demons are about to descend on this place to destroy us all."  
"Feh, not my problem, wench," he spat, his canines flashing in the pale light of dawn. "You may be sitting ducks, but I can defend MYSELF!"  
"While pinned to a tree?" Kagome countered as she positioned her right hand just above the arrow. Inuyasha's ears flattened to the top of his head, a sign Kagome had known for years meant she had won the argument.  
"The Shikon no Tama is buried within my body. Granted, you may hate my guts right now, Inuyasha, but I know you don't want one of those demons that'll be here in two seconds to take it, either!"  
"Know that I'll kill you as soon as I get rid of those demons, wench," he growled. "I ain't into the 'save the day' shit!"  
"Don't worry, Inu-chan", she said, placing her hand firmly on the shaft of the arrow and leaning into whisper seductively in his ear. "I'm counting on it!"  
Inuyasha's face turned blood red, and with a smile, Kagome pulled the arrow from his chest, with purple light erupting around them. With a feral laugh, the hanyou burst from the growth that had climbed up his body in his slumber of half a century, sending Kagome hurling head over heels, in a rather undignified fashion, to the ground. Popping his tendons, his trademark, he leapt at the onslaught of demons, destroying them with a bloody passion that made Kagome just stare in slack-jawed wonder. His blue haori, a strange sight to her eyes, glowed various hues of violet and indigo in the fading moonlight. Even as his fingers began to drip with the dark blood of the youkai he had slain, there was altogether an unearthly beauty about Inuyasha.  
  
****  
  
Pounding. Tiny little pulses inside her head, her chest, every part of her body, forced the wind demoness to thrash on the mat, the pain almost unbearable. Putting a hand to her abdomen, Kagura traced the pain along her rib cage up to the place that had remained vacant since the moment she had first drawn breath. Confusion clouded her brow, for this cavity in her chest seemed to be the source of her pain.  
"Like a little bird has been trapped in my chest," she moaned, her head lolling to the side, "and he is fluttering, trying to break free."  
"You have a heart at last, woman, and you dare to complain?" murmured a voice in the darkness, even and devoid of emotion.  
"Sesshomaru." Kagura struggled to sit up, only to cry out in pain as the tiny surges, like little internal flames, burned her at her pulse points. Falling back against the futon, sweat beading on her forehead, she struggled to even her breath and fight the nausea.  
Something cool and damp began to massage her temples, and it stilled the sweat on her brow. Opening one red eye, Kagura felt numb at the surprise of seeing Sesshomaru bent solicitously over her body. Though his amber eyes were empty of concern or any other emotion, the very act of his stooping to ease her suffering, in any way, was so uncharacteristic, so strange...her new heart began to swell with a new emotion, and the most pleasant feeling she had ever experienced overcame her. She opened her mouth to speak but could not master her tongue.  
"Rin will want to see you soon, so our time is short," he said, refreshing the damp cloth in a nearby bowl of water. "I have questions, woman,that must be answered first."  
"Why-" Kagura coughed, struggling to become the mistress of herself. Sesshomaru was, no matter how much she wished it, a demon lord, and one not to be trusted.  
"Why are you...helping me? What happened to me? Why do I hurt so much?" Sesshomaru only raised an eyebrow at her list of questions. Apparently, the full-blooded son of the great dog demon was not used to being the one on the receiving end of an interrogation.  
"Woman, you no longer reek of the stench of Naraku, and my minions to the east have informed me that my halfling of a brother has finally destroyed our mutual enemy. This Sesshomaru tested the power of Tensaiga in reviving you after his demise. Though I know not the physiology of a hanyou such as yourself, you are clearly not used to the pulsing of the heart within your chest, which was returned to you through the power of my sword."  
Kagura's eyes widened in disbelief. 'He...saved me?' Sesshomaru had never betrayed anything more than his characteristic ambivalence through the telling of what he had done to bring her back to life, but Kagura could not help but wonder at his having kept her under his care if it was all "just a test".  
"Hm. Well, don't expect me to thank you," she murmured, matching his cool gaze. The corner of the demon lord's mouth seemed to twitch in what could be taken as an attempt for a smile.  
"Well, woman, clearly your poor taste in manners has remained with you. Now that I know you are on the broad path to wellness, you can stop being impertinent to your debtor and answer my questions. I know you entered this territory before today, yet you did little more than surveillance."  
Kagura, with a pained expression, tried to turn her face from Sesshomaru, only to find herself arrested by his even amber gaze. She was not used to being able to tell the truth behind her actions without fear and chose to remain silent. The demon lord continued.  
"Furthermore, I have been informed by my lesser demons that you were moving independently of Naraku before his last assault against my brother and his woman. Even this Sesshomaru saw you deliver your creator's portion of the Shikon no Tama to that priestess, clearly without his orders. Now the jewel is gone, the priestess has vanished, Naraku is vanquished, and my brother has fallen into madness."  
Her red eyes shimmered with unshed tears as his face dipped in front of hers, his own pupils darkening menacingly, for the first time.  
"A prophecy has been fulfilled, forced by your hand, woman, and this Sesshomaru wants to know why."  
  
The darkness of the cavern seemed to engulf the beast, and the purple pupils of his red eyes, lined with the blood of his victims, were enlarged to benefit his sight in the deep shadow of the night. Clouds obscured any celestial light that might have peered through the small opening overhead. The walls of the cavern were decorated by sets of five parallel lines, all cut by his claws, and the bones that had littered the floor of the enclosure for centuries were shattered in his anger, with new, bloody bones from fresh kills added to their number.  
How far had the mighty hero Inuyasha fallen.  
After seeing Kagome struck through by the lethal miasma spike from Naraku's body, hearing her fall screaming into the void of the well, Inuyasha's demon blood overcame all that had remained of his human heart. The woman that had been his best friend, his wife, in truth, his mate, was gone, and there was no one left who could stop the inevitable blood bath that followed. With Naraku's blood covering him from head to foot, Inuyasha set about demolishing the demon army that had accompanied him. When nothing remained of the evil forces of Naraku, Inuyasha turned on the stunned Miroku, who was, ironically, unarmed now, without his cursed kazaana. Sango, reacting quickly, was able to distract the now full- blooded, enraged demon with one of her mist bombs. Their scents covered by the stench, she pushed the unconscious form of Miroku onto the back of Kirara, collected a sobbing Shippou, and ran to the village to seek Kaede- sama.  
With his new prey missing, the demon Inuyasha freed the stench of the exterminator's weapon from his nostrils before seizing on the scent of a young doe, wandering in the nearby meadow. Slaughtering the poor animal with lusty glee, the monster gathered the carcass and bounded into its new liar, the ancient bone eating well. Throwing aside the shattered timbers that covered the opening, he leapt into the gloom of the well with his meal. After devouring his meal and littering the floor of the well with the bloody ligaments and bones of the young deer, he went about finding his mate. Something deep within told him that there was something horribly wrong, that leaping within this, cavern, or whatever the hell it was, should have done, well, something. He simply could not understand how to get to his mate, and howling with anger and loss, he clawed at the bottom and the sides of the well for hours, until the sun began to dip beneath the trees, and the scent of human sweat met his nostrils.  
With a feral growl, he leaped up the earthen walls of the well, only to be thrown back to the bottom by the crackling energy of a holy barrier. The burning of his flesh filled his nostrils and did nothing but fuel his anger. The calls of humans reached his ears, but the demon Inuyasha had become could not understand the speech of mortals. He was now little more than a caged beast, throwing himself against the barrier that contained him, until he collapsed, exhausted at the bottom of the ancient well, his red eyes gleaming with a malicious mix of defeat, fury, and what remained of bitter loss. Apparently, this cavern made by the hands of men would be his lair for the night.  
  
Sango peered over the edge of the ancient well, splintered from the earlier battle, only to turn away when all that greeted her was the darkness surrounding red eyes, matched with a growing growl. Turning to the purple figure of her beloved, the demon exterminator laid her head gently against his shoulder, to avoid upsetting his wounds. The priestess Kaede remained at the edge of the clearing, disappointment etched in the lines of her face. None of the company was able to speak, and the wind caressing the nearby trees, charred by the battle, was the only sound that graced the meadow for many moments. Miroku, his right arm held fast by a make-shift sling, was the first to find words.  
"The ofudas Kaede-sama and I made should hold him for two weeks, until his human night. If any hope remains of his true spirit returning, it will be at that time. I will bring our friend here live game once a day, so he doesn't starve, because I doubt the full-blooded demon Inuyasha likes old fair any better than our Inuyasha."  
"Houshi...Miroku, I will bring him the food. You shouldn't even be up and about," remarked a concerned Sango, as she brought one of her arms carefully across his broad shoulders.  
"And what of Kagome?" asked Kaede, stepping forward from the shadows to join the sad young lovers.  
Silence a thousand times more potent than that of before now seized the trio. Sango's eyes filled with unshed tears, and Miroku looked to the darkened sky. Some wounds were too raw to be dressed yet. Their taciturn communion was broken by the sound of heart-wrenching howls echoing against the walls of the well. All were in mourning for the lost priestess.  
Tucking Sango's hand in the crook of his uninjured arm, Miroku turned to leave the meadow.  
"Kaede-sama, let us line the clearing with ofudas, to keep all except the three of us from entering. Should Inuyasha escape before he is well, we would not want him to attack the village at will, nor would I feel true to the fallen Kagome-sama if I allowed her love to be slain by vengeful demons because I had him cooped up in the well."  
The old priestess fell in step with the couple on the return to the village. "I think it best that we keep the kitsune Shippou in the village. He has suffered the death of his parents once before, and with Kagome missing at best and Inuyasha slipping into murderous insanity, I fear for the lad."  
In the shattered remains of a once magical well, a broken soul lay in torment. The beast in the well continued to howl his sorrow into the night, sending chills along the flesh of his former companions and all that could hear. Lingering at the roots of the god tree, a tiny figure in the darkness, little larger than a crumb, appeared to shudder, before slipping from view.  
  
****  
  
Scales, fangs, and other less savory demon parts sprayed in perfect arcs through the night sky near another god tree, before scattering with sickening thuds on the ground. Leaning against the ancient tree, Kagome and Kaede took turns yawning and looking rather bored as the dawn began to gleam on the horizon. Inuyasha, on the other hand, could be heard swearing playfully as demon after demon fell at his claws. He had been in the fray for hours, and even the few village warriors who had arrived to aid the priestess Kaede had chosen to just sit along the edge of the forest and observe the newly freed hanyou in all his glory.  
The numbers of the demon hoard had dwindled, and once the rather dense survivors realized that they were destined for defeat, a retreat was finally called.  
"Escape! Fuck that!" cried Inuyasha, as he shook the fresh demon blood from his hands and leapt after his escaping foes.  
"SIT, BOY!" cried Kagome from her spot against the god tree. The sound of a hanyou shaped hole being made in the forest floor resonated through the trees, and the villagers doubled over in laughter at the sound of Inuyasha's cursing being muffled by a mouthful of dirt. Rising to her feet, Kagome brushed the leaves from her skirt and smoothed her hair that had been ruffled from a night of escaping death by execution, fighting demons, escaping death by becoming demon food, releasing her lover from fifty years in limbo again, and leaning against an ancient tree until dawn.  
"Kaede...Kaede-sama, I know this is going to seem odd, but I need to speak with Inuyasha alone. Please, take the village men with you, before the subduing spell wears off."  
"Kagome, child!" cried the old woman. "Are ye sure this is the best course of action? Inuyasha, as you well know now, is very powerful."  
"And I have this." Kagome cleared her throat, before bellowing, "SIT, BOY!" Another round of curses, far more emphatic, filled the air, and with a grin, the priestess Kaede nodded her acceptance and corralled the snickering villagers away from the clearing with the mentioning of the rebuilding that awaited them at home.  
Closing her eyes and concentrating only on evening her breathing, Kagome thought only of slowing the pounding of her heart before the coming confrontation with Inuyasha.  
'I will not cry. I will not break. I will find a way to get home to you, my love, wherever you are. Until then, my toughest challenge will be, well, dealing with you.'  
"Now, bitch, you die!" cried Inuyasha, as he leapt from his hole in the ground, his talons sharp for the kill.  
"Damn it, sit, Inuyasha!" cried Kagome. Mere centimeters from his goal, Inuyasha crashed for the third time that night to the ground, face first. The muffled swears began again. Furious at her own carelessness and her frustration at having to deal with 'that' Inuyasha again, Kagome wedged her shoe between Inuyasha's shoulder and the ground, and, with a touch of miko energy, kicked the swearing hanyou over onto his back, so she could address him face to face. Looking in his amber eyes, so familiar yet so strange, Kagome couldn't help but feel her resolve not to cry weaken. Fastening the struggling hanyou to the ground with the mere whisper of "osuwari", Kagome knelt at Inuyasha's side. Her compassion, however, was replaced pretty quickly by her anger at the whole situation when a rather colorful phrase about her nature as a female dog slipped past the hanyou's lips. With a more forceful "osuwari", she cleared her throat and began what would be the most difficult conversation of her life.  
"Inuyasha, this is going to be a rather painful experience for both of us, but it will go a lot faster and be far less painful for you physically if you shut up!" Looking slightly stunned, Inuyasha chose to close his mouth and listed, 'just to humor the stupid wench.' Seeing he had chosen to cooperate for the moment, she continued: "I'm sure by now that you've figured out a few things. One, I am not the priestess Kikyou. Furthermore, I have a name, Kagome, pronounced Ka. Go. Me., not "wench" or that 'other word' you so love to call me. Two, the beads around your neck that you were trying to remove earlier are part of a subduing spell. Only I can remove them, and I have no intention of doing so until you grow up, a process I have a feeling will take years. Whenever you try to kill me or any other innocent human being and/or act like a jerk, I will say that magic little word, and you'll be eating dirt. Got that?"  
"Feh," was all the response Inuyasha could manage. He tried to lift his head, but still suffering from the effects of the "osuwari", he managed only to turn his face away from this strange girl who looked so much like the woman who had betrayed him. Despite his reluctance to look her in the eye, Inuyasha couldn't help but blush and look up again to see the strange girl untying the cover of his haori, as if it was, well, normal to undress him!  
"Wench! What the hell are you doing?"  
"Sit," murmured Kagome pensively, as she pulled the cover of the blue haori back to further expose a wound on his chest, brimming with poison from the claws of one of the demon's he had slain. "This looks bad, Inuyasha. You should let me treat this when we get back to the village."  
"Don't touch me! I don't care who you say you are! You look just like Kikyou, so you have to be just as...as...."  
"As what, Inuyasha?!?!" cried Kagome, her frustration running high. "As treacherous? Untrustworthy? I hate to tell you this, having just met you for the first time (again), but the love you and Kikyou shared wasn't false...it just wasn't strong enough to withstand Naraku's trickery."  
For the first time, Inuyasha let his body run slack against the subduing spell, surprise registering in his amber eyes. His mouth was open, slack with disbelief.  
"Inuyasha...." Kagome turned away to still the tears brimming in her eyes before continuing. "Though it was Kikyou who sealed you to the god tree, it was an evil demon, Naraku, who led you both to believe that you had betrayed each other. I'm...I'm sorry."  
Inuyasha closed his eyes at these words, and Kagome, wearied by her task, held her head in her hands. The two sat in silence for several moments, both lost in their thoughts. Though the subduing spell had lost its potency long ago, she did not renew its magic. The hanyou remained silent, only the occasional furrowing of his brow denoting his internal struggle. At long last, he opened his eyes, and, neither avoiding nor seeking her attention, turned his amber orbs to the blue sky overhead. The morning sun continued its march into that azure sky, and Kagome could only fix her glance on his strange blue haori, stained with blood. Her curiosity winning over her caution, Kagome could not help but ask,  
"Where did you get this blue haori? I mean, this is going to sound really weird, but why isn't it, well, red or something?"  
Raising one eyebrow, Inuyasha did not turn to face the girl, choosing instead to speak his answer to the morning sky.  
"Feh, nosey, aren't we? If you must know, wench, my haori is made of fire rat fur. The person who gave it to me...." His eyes reflected the passing clouds. "My mother...her favorite color was blue. She had it dyed blue, just for me. Don't know why you'd want it red, wench."  
"Don't call me wench-and thank you," was all Kagome could say, though this simple answer had created far more questions than she could count.  
'Last time...his mother gave him the haori, that's true...but the great lady made the gift red fire rat fur. So many little differences. Naraku, you bastard, what have you done to us?' 


End file.
